The present invention relates to a device for signaling a user of a device.
Communications devices, such as telephones, and data devices, such as personal computing devices, often include an indicator that alerts a user of the device that a message has been stored for the user. For example, some telephones, such as those found in hotels, have a red indicator light that flashes to notify a guest staying in the room corresponding to the phone that a message for the guest is waiting at the hotel desk or in the hotel""s voice mail system. Likewise, an application program in a personal computer, such as an email program, will send a message or post an icon to a monitor screen of the personal computer to notify the user of the computer that an electronic mail message for the user has arrived and is stored in the user""s inbox.
The present invention provides a system and method to notify the user of a communication device.
The present invention is directed toward a system and method for alerting a user of a device. An embodiment of a system for signaling a user, according to the present invention, includes a first transparent body having first and second end portions. The first end portion is adapted to receive a light beam and the first transparent body is adapted to transmit the light beam received at the first end portion to the second end portion. The second end portion is adapted to disperse the light beam. This embodiment also includes a second transparent body having a first surface, an opening, and a second surface interior to the opening. The opening is adapted to receive the first end portion of the first transparent body such that the second surface is adjacent the first end portion of the first transparent body. The second transparent body is adapted to transmit the light beam received through the first surface to the second surface such that the light beam is transmitted to the first transparent body.
An embodiment of a light pipe signaling apparatus, according to the present invention, includes an elongate transparent body having a lengthwise axis and a reflective sidewall and a first end portion of said body. The first end portion is disposed at a first end of the lengthwise axis and adapted to fit within an opening in a receptacle. The first end portion is further adapted to receive a light beam transmitted from a surface of the receptacle. The light pipe signaling apparatus also includes a second end portion of said body. The second end portion is disposed at a second end of the lengthwise axis opposing the first end of the lengthwise axis, and the second end portion is adapted to disperse the light beam received by the first end portion.
An embodiment of a method for signaling a user of a device, according to the present invention, includes the steps of providing a light source in the device, providing a transparent receptacle in the device adjacent to the light source, the receptacle having an opening, and providing a light pipe adapted to fit within the opening in the receptacle. The method then calls for inserting the light pipe into the opening in the receptacle, and activating the light source to signal the user of the device.